60 Years & 1 Year, A Lot to Celebrate!

Sixty years old, no one is more surprised than me!  I remember my grandmother Grace Pearl Lawson Blair very well, and always thought of her as 'old.'  She was born in January of 1902, so when I was ten years old, she was 'just' 60.  Now that's me!  Yikes!

Kathy took me to a nice dinner at the Shelter Cove Lodge, one of the better restaurants on the island.  We had a nice view of the water and islands, and an excellent meal.  Otherwise, my crossover to post-60 life was quiet, this after a fun family party when I was in San Diego a month ago.  The next year should be very interesting, as we decide what to do toward the end of our two-year stint.

Our one-year anniversary on the island happened, with no fanfare, because we had guests:  we passed our one year anniversary on the island, and Kathy hit the one year mark as a Behavioral Health Clinician with the Alicia Roberts Medical Center/SEARHC.  It was uneventful but monumental!  Sitting here today, it seems like it went quickly.  It didn't all go quickly though.  Fall was a real  challenge, as we were forced to move from place to place, while trying to find a home of our own.  We had prepared ourselves well for the winter, so nothing really surprised us, except the dip to single digit temperatures, which didn't last long.  The spring, however, dragged on and on.  Early, the herring came in, and brought some whale activity, but then everything stopped:  we kept waiting for the salmon to come in, and bring everything from more humpback and new killer whales to sea lions, sea otters, and black bear with them, but they never really did.  Now I'm not sure if it's too late, or they are really late, or what's going on, but we haven't seen any sockeye or other runs yet.  

There was a small explosion of color as wildflowers and weeds bloomed (I've never seen so many dandelions in my life!).  The berries and other bushes leafed out, creating beautiful green curtains where there were only bare stems during the winter.  The spring weather didn't warm up all that much though, nor did the rain let up.  We kept expecting more signs of spring, like more sun, but never saw them.  Finally, as summer slipped in, the temperature crept up to the 50's and the rain nearly left completely.  The clouds, though, remain.  There were four days of sun and 80 degree temperatures (while I was in San Diego enjoying sun like I never have before!) and then the clouds returned, and haven't really left.  Oh, Carol and Kay did bring two days of it when they first got here, but that, too, left us.  

True 'rock art,' found on Sandy Beach.  :-)

Summer is moving along much more quickly.  It looks like we aren't going to get a real summer though.  The locals have told us they didn't get a summer last year either.  Just not right, surviving the cloudier, rainier, colder and shorter days of winter, and then get little reprieve or reward.  We are not liking this at all.  

The weather has been a little more rainy lately, but the thermometer continues to be very short, not dipping below 50 degrees overnight, and reaching mid to high 50's during the day, sometimes reaching the low 60's.  The sun continues to stay up late, but is muted by the constant clouds.  

Carok, Kay and Kathy at Sandy Beach.

Carol gets a close-up look at the Honker Divide Weir and  fishtrap.
There are many more pictures of Carol and Kay's visit on my Facebook page.

August 8, 2012

Our new desks came in at work yesterday.  This reminded me of the desks we got rid of at 8669 Jenny.  One came from SAIC, was my desk when we got new ones there, all the way back in 1994.  It was used even when I first picked it out at a used office furniture place, with my boss, Amy. 

The second desk was from my old office at the Ronald McDonald House of San Diego.  Admin moved in with the new house when it opened on top of the parking structure across from Rady Children’s Hospital, so I took my then-desk home.  It was big, an L shape, which I, of course, filled up in no time. 

It was sort of sad to see them go.  Kathy had used my SAIC desk in what later became Henry’s room.  However, we did get a lot of satisfaction out of the major purging we did when we moved, I have to say.